1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to output devices, information processing systems, and information processing methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past few years it has become common to connect various devices via a wireless communication technology such as Bluetooth so that data can be transmitted and received between them. Such a wireless communication system is highly convenient because it allows a user to wirelessly or contactlessly instruct a printer, for example, equipped with a communication unit to print data, from a portable terminal device with its own communication unit adapted to technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth, a wireless LAN, or Wireless USB (W-USB), as well as the conventional cellular phone network. However, because the transmission of such an instruction for printing data using a wireless communication technology involves wireless transmission and reception of data, it is difficult to specify a particular output unit from among a number of printers that are available for printing the data. Another disadvantage of the wireless transmission of an instruction for printing data is that if the printing of data starts at a time that is not desired by the user, confidential information printed on a medium may be leaked.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2003-150354 proposes an image forming apparatus in which a recipient of data or information of confidential nature is authenticated without requiring any bothersome operations. Specifically, in this image forming apparatus, print data and user ID are received from a personal computer, and a search is conducted for a portable telephone device with which connection can be authenticated, by referring to a link key that is registered in association with the received user ID. If a portable telephone device that is successfully authenticated for communication exists within a piconet area, relevant print data is output, thus initiating an image forming process without requiring any bothersome operations.
However, in the aforementioned technology, because the personal computer that sends an instruction to the image forming apparatus for printing data is separated from the portable telephone device that is authenticated for connection, the user needs to enter the piconet area carrying the portable telephone device after sending the print instruction to the image forming apparatus.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful output device, information processing system, and information-processing method in which the aforementioned problems are overcome. A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an output device capable of preventing the leakage of confidential information from a medium on which data is printed while the convenience of outputting data via wireless communication is maintained.